Schools welcome new Chinese teacher

Helen He, a Chinese language teacher from Chongqing in southeast China was introduced to the school board and welcomed to the community at Wednesday night's school board meeting.

Sisters Mandarin teacher David Perkins introduced He to the board. Perkins said, "Helen He is the third of three Chinese teachers to join us in Sisters. She is a trained Chinese teacher and was teaching Chinese in China. She arrived in Sisters in late August, and she has been helping Eva Xu at the elementary school.

"Last week she began teaching in the middle school," continued Perkins. "She will be shuttling between all three schools. She will be helping Vivian Zhang at the high school as well as teaching classes at the middle school and the elementary school. She is living with Kris Calvin and Dr. May Fan."

"These teachers bring diversity to our community that we would not have," said Superintendent Jim Golden. "China is the largest country in the world, and very soon will be the largest economy in the world. Chinese is a tonal language that is very difficult to learn at an older age. If kids growing up do not have training in a second language they will be at a distinct disadvantage in the world market."

Golden continued, "This program has cost the school district absolutely no money. This is a credit to David Perkins. I think the community is really fortunate."

Perkins added, "I was immensely surprised and happy that we have 20 kids signed up for Mandarin 1A this winter semester at SHS!"

Zhang and Xu are in their second year of a three-year visa, Helen is in her first year of a three-year visa. The teachers go home for the summer and return in the fall when school starts.

Theresa Slavkovsky of FAN presented He with a quilt and a basket of goodies. Slavkovsky said, "We are a quilting community here, so on behalf the staff, the students and the families of Sisters School District we would like to welcome you to the community."

He's home, Chongqing, is one of five national cities in China, and one of China's four direct-controlled cites (the others are Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin). It is the only such municipality in inland China. The metropolitan area has a population of over 28 million as of the 2010 census.

Board chair Don Hedrick asked He what she thought of moving to a town of 2,000. He replied, "When I first came into Oregon I said, 'Where are all the people?"

The salary and travel expenses for these teachers are provided by the Hanban/Confucius Institute, a Chinese public institution affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education that is committed to providing Chinese language and cultural teaching resources worldwide.

All three teachers also came with $10,000 each to spend on supplies and materials for the classrooms. Stateside, the visit was coordinated by the Confucius Institute at Portland State University. The institute brought 22 Chinese educators to Oregon last year.